A
shop clerk is seen through a window displaying a logo of SoftBank
Corp at its branch in TokyoThomson
Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) - SoftBank Corp is to offer a Sony Corp
smartphone for the first time, selling the upcoming Xperia
handset both in Japan and through subsidiary Sprint Corp in the
United States, sources with knowledge of the matter said.

Four sources told Reuters that Sony's Xperia Z3, its next
flagship smartphone expected to be unveiled at next week's IFA
tech expo in Berlin, will be available in time for the winter
holiday season in both countries.

The deal would mark the first time SoftBank's mobile unit has
offered a Sony handset, and the first time a Sony smartphone will
be available on a U.S. carrier other than No. 4 carrier T-Mobile
US Inc.